With Woodbury murder charges, a tough stance on synthetic drugs

Police were called to this Woodbury home Jan. 11, 2014, on a report of an unresponsive teenager. Tara Fitzgerald, 17, was taken to Regions Hospital and later died. (Pioneer Press photo taken May 28)

Tara Fitzgerald (Courtesy photo)

Editor's note: The spelling of Alexander Lee Claussen's name was incorrect in a previous version of this story.

A girl is dead, and five teenagers -- including three Woodbury High School students -- are charged with murder because they allegedly had a part in distributing what turned out to be a fatal dose of a synthetic drug. Law enforcement officials hope the case is sending a strong message to young people and parents.

On Wednesday, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said he and investigators had many discussions about whether they were overreaching by charging all five teens, even those who wouldn't be considered drug dealers and who weren't profiting from distributing a dangerous substance.

"There's a big lesson to be had out of this," Orput said. "The lesson is: Guys, this isn't harmless. Handing out drugs to each other isn't harmless. This isn't a bag of weed. ... Nobody's dying from that stuff."

Third-degree murder charges were filed Wednesday against Alexander Lee Claussen, 19, of St. Cloud, Minn.; Cole Alexander Matenaer, 19, of Woodbury; and three 17-year-olds who are Woodbury residents and students at Woodbury High School: Sydney Claire Johnson, Alistair Curtis Berg and Brian Phillip Norlander.

The charges are in connection with events that began Jan. 11, when police were summoned to a Woodbury home where Tara Fitzgerald, 17, was unresponsive. She was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where she died a short time later. Her friends told police she had ingested what she believed was LSD the previous night, according to a criminal complaint.

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Investigators traced the chain of custody for the substance, which turned out to be a synthetic drug called 25i-NBOMe, according to a toxicology analysis by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Police determined that Matenaer had sold the drug to Johnson, who sold it to Berg, who sold it to Norlander, who then sold it to Fitzgerald, the complaint said.

When police arrested Matenaer, they found 36 doses of 25i-NBOMe in his vehicle, the complaint said.

Investigators next traced the drugs to Claussen in St. Cloud, the complaint said. During a search of his home, police reportedly found more than 300 doses of the substance.

Orput said Claussen was "as far as we could trace it."

In 2011, there was a similar overdose death in Anoka County linked to a synthetic substance called 2C-E. In that case, a 22-year-old man bought a vial of the drug online and distributed it at a party. Nine people were hospitalized in what police called a mass overdose; one died. The man who bought the drug pleaded guilty to third-degree murder -- after federal authorities threatened to file their own case -- and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In the case of Fitzgerald's death, authorities are continuing to look for more information.

"We are still in the midst of investigating the ultimate source of this liquid synthetic drug," Orput said.

As for the other teens who were allegedly involved in the distribution of the dose that killed Fitzgerald, Woodbury Police Chief Lee Vague said their age shouldn't defer culpability.

"These are smart kids knowingly selling what they think is LSD," Vague said. "They're making a pretty poor choice. ... If you make a choice and that choice results in the death of a young girl, you're going to be held accountable for that."

There have been six drug overdose deaths in Washington County already this year, Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The fatal substances in recent years include synthetic drugs, heroin, methadone and prescription medications.

"This is an epidemic. ... The question needs to be asked: When is enough, enough?" Hutton said. "People have to stand up and say we're done with this, this is enough. We have to have solutions and cooperation from everybody to make it stop."

Officials offered some insight into what's pushing the "epidemic" and why it's hard to stop.

Orput likened law enforcement's fight against synthetic drugs to a game of cat and mouse, saying the producers are able to alter the substances chemically at a molecular level, evading newly revised laws. Potency also varies and changes.

Vague said his investigators have been frustrated by synthetic-drug users' lack of care or understanding, even if they first research the drugs online in an attempt to make an informed decision.

"The bottom line is: There's no possible way to know what substance is on that piece of paper," Vague said. "And in this investigation, there was a very casual attitude about this -- a feeling that this (drug) was safe."

Orput called the mounting overdose deaths a public health issue and said it's up to the community -- especially parents -- to get involved.

For their part, law enforcement officials hope Tara Fitzgerald's death and the criminal case that followed have sent a message and will spur change.

"We can't sit and do nothing, but we're doing the best we can," Orput said. "Maybe we're saving lives. Maybe at Woodbury High School, we've saved a couple kids already."